series:
The Vagabond Vicar
Gloved Heart (Amy's story) - tba
Mr. Barrington Meets His Match - tba All William wanted was to save the world. Now he cannot even save himself.

William Brook is an idealistic young cleric, desperate to escape dreary England for a mission adventure in exotic lands. It's his worst nightmare come true when he is posted to a parish in a small backwater village, populated with small-minded people and husband-hunting mamas. He’s determined not to form any ties and to escape the country as an independent single man.

A free spirit, Cecilia Grant is perfectly content to remain in her family home in Amberley village - when she's not wandering the countryside at all hours painting. Marriage options are few, but that won't stop her mother from engineering a match with one of the ruling family's sons. Cecilia attempts to win the man, but what is it about the new vicar and his brooding ways that is so appealing? Could he be the only one who has ever really understood her, and can she discover what he is running away from?

As William struggles not to fall in love with the lady's intoxicating beauty and mysterious eccentricity, he finds himself drawn into the lives of the villagers, despite their best efforts to alienate the newcomer. When he makes it clear he's not sticking around, Cecilia strives to restrain her blossoming feelings for him. Just when it seems love may triumph, dark secrets are revealed in Amberley and a scandal from William’s past may see the end of not only his career, but his chance at finding an everlasting love.

My two-bits:

Delightful Jane Austen-like story with the right dose of romance. There is some love triangle action that causes a bit of anxiety, but the heroine handles it well.

The tension and stress of the times for young ladies in want (need) of a husband comes through well through the various entertainment gatherings and socials. I enjoyed the interactions and dialogue during the dancing scenes between the main couple in the story.

The characters were likable and perspectives from the main couple were portrayed equally. I especially liked hearing from William's viewpoint in regards to his struggle with falling in love.

--~ Book Giveaway ~--

read more about this vicar and signup to win this ebook at Wishful Endings here
-offer ends April 9

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.

The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules’s now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.

Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.

=====> Listened to the audio version and loved the storytelling of the lives of these characters of friends from teen to adulthood. So touching.

In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.

Spellbinding and atmospheric, A Sudden Light is rich with unconventional characters, scenes of transcendent natural beauty, and unforgettable moments of emotional truth that reflect Garth Stein’s outsized capacity for empathy and keen understanding of human motivation—a triumphant work of a master storyteller at the height of his power.

PeekAbook:

My two-bits:

Set in the Pacific Northwest amongst the beautiful surroundings of giant trees and the big outdoors the mood of longing in this story is captured well.

Each character, whether they were human or ghost, had equally engaging and absorbing histories to learn about.

The story flip flopped from present (main character) to past (ghost characters) which created a complete story - one that goes full circle with a satisfying ending.

Unsettling moments and secrets revealed kept me curious and glued to this story to the end.

When newly divorced Kate Adams is approached on the sunny deck of a California hotel by hockey star David Burke, and he invites her to dinner, she almost says no. He’s obviously younger than her. And charming. And drop dead gorgeous. But there’s also something sweet about David, so Kate—who hasn’t done anything spontaneous in a very long time—accepts his invitation.

It is, after all, her fortieth birthday. However, a real romance with thirty-year-old David, whose picture is in the gossip pages as often as it’s in the sports pages, is out of the question. No matter how much she wants him, it’s just too risky. But meeting Kate has been David’s lightning strike. She’s the one for him, and he has no intention of giving up on her. So while Kate guards her fragile heart, David sets out to win her over with the same determination that drives him on the ice. And he’ll break every rule in the book if he has to.

My two-bits:

This was a clean romance that also included a bit of the sport element - hockey and figure skating.

It was love at the get go for the star couple in this romance set in the present day. Push and pull of their chemistry bond happened after their initial hookup. So, not so much banter or bickering. Lots of sweet loving.

The development of the couple in relation to family and friends were dipped into nicely which were cause for high drama.

Issues of single parenting and age were topics that were interesting to think on as well.

About the author:

Jeannie Moon has always been a romantic. When she’s not spinning tales of her own, Jeannie works as a school librarian, thankful she has a job that allows her to immerse herself in books and call it work. Married to her high school sweetheart, Jeannie has three kids, three lovable dogs and a mischievous cat and lives in her hometown on Long Island, NY. If she’s more than ten miles away from salt water for any longer than a week, she gets twitchy.

--~ Jeannie's Loyal Reader Giveaway ~--

Subscribe to Jeannie’s newsletter here, and stay subscribed, and every month you’re eligible to win one of Jeannie’s novels.

An intrepid band of explorers headed by Gabriel Bonvalot, France’s greatest explorer, and his partner, Prince Henri d’Orléans, attempt to be the first living Europeans to reach Lhasa. Before they leave Paris, Bonvalot meets Camille Dancourt, the beautiful, strong-willed wife of a French surveyor who disappeared in Tibet, who desperately wishes to join the expedition.

When the explorers reach Tibet, they discover a land of mystery and intrigue, a land of danger that promises them only one thing: death. On the verge of collapse, Bonvalot realizes they must resort to deadly force if they ever wish to escape Tibet alive.

My two-bits:

For the most part, this story was a travelogue (without pictures). It went into the details and logistics of a caravan traveling to, in and around Tibet during the 1800s. Along with horrendous weather and terrain conditions to battle at times, local people and authorities in regards to paperwork, official documents and bribes created road blocks to contend with as well.

Despite different personalities and reasons to travel, the key characters of this story shared the same one-track mind and determination to get through the journey.

Although there was a woman in this expedition, not much of her experience is presented. I would have liked to read more about what she had to deal with during her travels. For instance, how did she deal with personal grooming i.e. the monthly periods?

I was also curious to know more about the different cultures they encountered and wanted more colorful descriptions of the people and surroundings.

There is also a side story of a missing person mystery that carries to the end.

The author's notes revealed how the two explorers came to be the focus of this story which was a fun trivia bit to learn about.

About the author:

Sophie Schiller was born in Paterson, NJ and grew up in the West Indies.

Among other oddities her family tree contains a Nobel prize-winning physicist and a French pop singer.

She loves stories that carry the reader back in time to exotic and far-flung locations.

She was educated at American University, Washington, DC and lives in Brooklyn, NY.

She is currently at work on a new historical thriller set in the Caribbean.

--~ Blog Tour Giveaway ~--

For 5 winners
Print/digital for US/Canada residents
Digital for other countries

You can enter the giveaway here or on the book blogs participating in this tour.

Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook,
they are listed in the entry form below.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Brace yourself for the most astonishing, challenging, upsetting, and profoundly moving book in many a season. An epic about love and friendship in the twenty-first century that goes into some of the darkest places fiction has ever traveled and yet somehow improbably breaks through into the light. Truly an amazement—and a great gift for its publisher.

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.

In rich and resplendent prose, Yanagihara has fashioned a tragic and transcendent hymn to brotherly love, a masterful depiction of heartbreak, and a dark examination of the tyranny of memory and the limits of human endurance.

=====> Really, really excited about this one, really! But will not be able to get to it until next month

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Every Sunday Savannah Ray gets an email from her dead dad. She doesn’t know how the emails work but she’s finally ready to start looking for answers. To find those answers she has to go to the one place she swore she’d never set foot in after he died—Haunted Valley, the amusement park. Once there and on the hunt for answers she is distracted by the charming Dallas and falls hard for him. When the answers she finds aren’t what she expected and Dallas betrays her, Savannah must make a choice—succumb to the insanity that destroyed her father or find the strength to rise above it.

Book excerpt:

We met at Cracker Barrel, which was just mom indulging me. My favorite meal in the whole world was biscuits and gravy from Cracker Barrel. If I could I’d subsist on chocolate alone, but I tried that right after Dad died and nearly ended up in the hospital.

“Grant just texted me that he already has a table. We’ll eat and then you two need to get on the road,” Mom said.

I recognized him immediately even though I’d only met him twice before, once at a family reunion and then again at the funeral. He had the same dark hair and eyes my dad had. Except skinnier. Grant gave my mom an awkward hug and shook Dave’s hand. They all smiled at each other. I sat down before he could touch me at all.

He tugged at his collar and smiled at me. It wasn’t a real smile, it was the kind of smile you gave when you felt like you were supposed to smile but didn’t really want to.

“So, Savannah, how was your school year?”

“Oh, fine. I got suspended, barely passed my classes since I wasn’t allowed to take the finals, and got dumped by my boyfriend.”

This was a test. If he were like my dad, he’d say something funny to lighten the mood. Dad hated anything serious.

Grant frowned and fidgeted with the menu. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope this summer will be better for you.”

Fat chance of that. I rolled my eyes. He seemed so unsure of himself. Which was odd, because Dad was always the life of the party and completely in control of social situations. This aspect of him I didn’t inherit. Well, I did. I used to have it, but then he died and I threw it away.

They made small talk until the food arrived. Grant didn’t try addressing me again. Probably didn’t want me to tell him how horrible my life was. Just as the food arrived I hiccupped. Damn. My mother glared at me and Teddy giggled.

Hiccups are part of the family curse. Through my dad’s side, of course. We didn’t just hiccup. We made a loud and obnoxious noise that was more like a crow cawing. There was no way to get rid of them, I just had to wait them out. My mother always had new suggestions on how to stop them and they never worked. My hiccups were unbelievably embarrassing in class, but mostly they just reminded me that I’d inherited a curse that killed my great-grandfather during the Depression, my grandfather after Vietnam, and most recently my dad. There were other signs of the curse, but the first was always the hiccups. When I was little I thought the whole thing was about the hiccups, that my grandfathers died of hiccups. It wasn’t until a few years before my dad finally died from the wretched curse that he tried to convince me that hiccups had nothing to do with it. Sometimes, I still thought the hiccups were going to kill me.

“Damn curse,” I muttered.

Grant put his fork down. “Not you too.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Your Dad was always going on about the curse. It doesn’t exist. He made it up as a party story to deflect attention off of his hiccups.”

“That doesn’t make it any less real. He’s dead, isn’t he?” I met his eyes. Those tiny almost-black eyes that were just like Dad’s.

“From a disease, not a curse.”

“Disease, curse, same thing.”

He put his fork down and crossed his arms. “It is not the same thing, if your Dad had recognized it as a disease then he would not be dead.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but my mother cleared her throat. Grant and I looked at her and then turned our attention back to food.

The rest of dinner was tense and silent. Except for Teddy jabbering on about Thomas the Train. To try to distract myself I listened to him intently. Half way through dinner, Grant looked at me but spoke to my mother.

“Savannah will have orientation on Tuesday. She’ll have to spend tomorrow getting up to dress code.”

My head jerked up and I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked.

“Your nails can’t be black. You can paint them a light pink, but no black or bright colors. You’ll have to remove the ring in your eyebrow.” I dropped my fork. This would not do at all.

“What about brown, can I paint them brown?” I wanted to continue, to explain that my nails were not black at all, but a dark brown of the richest chocolate. The kind that comes from Argentina. They couldn’t be black, because I threw the black nail polish away after Candie betrayed me and I shaved all the hair off my head. Before I could finish, he shook his head and took a bite of his omelet. I glared at my mom.

“You didn’t tell me they were going to make me change the way I look.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know. But you’ll do it.”

“I can’t remove my eyebrow ring, it will close up.” My palms began to sweat. This was not the way I’d envisioned my summer. Pretending to be someone else. I was eighteen and they weren’t going to boss me around.

Grant scowled.

“If you want a job you will,” he held my gaze, which was hard because it was like staring straight into my father’s eyes.

“I don’t want a job anyway.” I shoved a biscuit in my mouth, emptying my plate, and waited for him to retort. He just looked at my mother and sighed. Perhaps he thought he was getting a docile little girl that would do whatever he wanted. The eyebrow ring would stay. I’d see to that.

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world. When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways.

As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny?

My two-bits:

I found most this to be a kind of travel/road trip kind of book with new sights, sounds and dragons.

As Seraphina is put to the task of gathering and uniting dragons, she grows to be a kind of ambassador.

Seraphina finally gets to learn more about the different types of dragons and their ways with her many meetings. Also, instead of huge fiery breathing dragons creating havoc, there are different sorts in this tale - cerebral fighting.

Things to note:

A lot of interactions with differents sorts of dragon folk - moslty in human form.

A lot of politics and magical mind play with a large cast of characters.

In her New York Times bestselling and Morris Award-winning debut, Rachel Hartman introduces mathematical dragons in an alternative-medieval world to fantasy and science-fiction readers of all ages. Eragon-author Christopher Paolini calls them, "Some of the most interesting dragons I've read in fantasy."

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.

My two-bits:

Interesting take on dragons interacting with humans in the upper crust society during medieval times.

I liked the feature of dragons and music.

Perspective is mostly from the human side and on how the dragons have been assimilating somewhat "undercover". But of course, things start to change towards the end of the book.

~*~

* book 2, Shadow Scale, is currently on tour - check out my review tomorrow

Monday, March 16, 2015

Unelmoija: Paradox
(Weeia series book five)
by Elle Boca
-Urban Fantasy set in Miami
release date: March 2015Amazon | Goodreads

Amy and her friends uncover the cause of the disappearance of New Lyon, only to face their greatest challenge. Altering the past could mean the end of all humanity, while doing nothing could have dire consequences for those they love.

Forced to risk everything and choose between the familiar and the unknown, even the Unelmoija may not be strong enough to evade the paradox.

About the author:
Elle is the author of the Weeia urban fantasy series set in Miami, Florida in the United States (based on a four county area of real life South Florida). Growing up the only child of a monkey mother and a rabbit father she learned to keep herself entertained and spend time reading.

Elle makes her home with her king cat husband in South Florida. When not writing and creating fantastical beings she likes photographing nature and wildlife, eating baked goods, watching movies, and dreaming of going on safari.

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

My two-bits:

The subject matter is serious, but the story is told in a kind of black comedy manner.

Loved how this mystery of whodunnit and whogotkilled reveals itself via interviews and perspectives of the three main characters.

Also loved the character growth of characters. The Madeline character was a hoot.

The location description and setting made me want to put Australia on my future travel spot list. Kept me guessing to the end.

~*~

* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square: Pink Cover - as close to pink as I can get ;-)

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.

=====> prompted to watch this from Happy.Pretty.Sweet and hooked! If you decide to watch this do not read the wikipedia page on this as it contains a major spoiler. Wanting to know more about the premise, I got spoiled. So, now that I know the whodunit I am watching the show for the whydunit.

~*~

* some of these may be offered as giveaways within the next two months

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

The notoriously bloody history of a mob-run Sydney, Australia neighborhood is fertile ground for this historical thriller with a paranormal twist: two girls' ability to see the many ghosts haunting Razorhurst.

Sydney’s deadly Razorhurst neighborhood, 1932. Gloriana Nelson and Mr. Davidson, two ruthless mob bosses, have reached a fragile peace—one maintained by “razor men.” Kelpie, orphaned and homeless, is blessed (and cursed) with the ability to see Razorhurst’s many ghosts. They tell her secrets the living can’t know about the cracks already forming in the mobs’ truce.

Then Kelpie meets Dymphna Campbell, a legendary beauty and prized moll of Gloriana Nelson. She’s earned the nickname “Angel of Death” because none of her beaus has ever survived knowing her. Unbeknownst to Kelpie, Dymphna can see ghosts, too, and she knows that Gloriana’s hold is crumbling one henchman at a time. As loyalties shift and betrayal threatens the two girls at every turn, Dymphna is determined not only to survive, but to rise to the top with Kelpie at her side.

My two-bits:

Got a good sense of the 1930s time period in Australia with gang activities and rivalries. Such a dangerous racket to be in. The description of the usage of razors instead of guns as deadly weapons was an interesting bit of history to learn about.

The interesting tweak to this historical piece is the ghost element. The beginning of the story is challenging to follow along as there are conversations of characters and ghosts that criss-cross with only one person in the room who is party to all. However, once familiar with the characters and with who is alive and who is a ghost then things become clear.

Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a feast at Winterfell? Wish you could split a lemon cake with Sansa Stark, scarf down a pork pie with the Night’s Watch, or indulge in honeyfingers with Daenerys Targaryen? George R. R. Martin’s bestselling saga A Song of Ice and Fire and the runaway hit HBO series Game of Thrones are renowned for bringing Westeros’s sights and sounds to vivid life. But one important ingredient has always been missing: the mouthwatering dishes that form the backdrop of this extraordinary world. Now, fresh out of the series that redefined fantasy, comes the cookbook that may just redefine dinner . . . and lunch, and breakfast.

A passion project from superfans and amateur chefs Chelsea Monroe-Cassel and Sariann Lehrer—and endorsed by George R. R. Martin himself—A Feast of Ice and Fire lovingly replicates a stunning range of cuisines from across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. From the sumptuous delicacies enjoyed in the halls of power at King’s Landing, to the warm and smoky comfort foods of the frozen North, to the rich, exotic fare of the mysterious lands east of Westeros, there’s a flavor for every palate, and a treat for every chef.

These easy-to-follow recipes have been refined for modern cooking techniques, but adventurous eaters can also attempt the authentic medieval meals that inspired them. The authors have also suggested substitutions for some of the more fantastical ingredients, so you won’t have to stock your kitchen with camel, live doves, or dragon eggs to create meals fit for a king (or a khaleesi). In all, A Feast of Ice and Fire contains more than 100 recipes, divided by region.

There’s even a guide to dining and entertaining in the style of the Seven Kingdoms. Exhaustively researched and reverently detailed, accompanied by passages from all five books in the series and full-color photographs guaranteed to whet your appetite, this is the companion to the blockbuster phenomenon that millions of stomachs have been growling for. And remember, winter is coming—so don’t be afraid to put on a few pounds.

Includes a Foreword by George R. R. Martin

My two-bits:
Something for each season.

Love this theme of medieval fare. Some ingredients substitutes are offered for certain recipes so that they can be recreated and sampled.

Mostly comfort foods are offered with plenty of pictures to help decide whether or not you want to give it a go - usually a major factor for me.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

A sweeping, epic saga of romance and hardship, set against the dramatic backdrop of ancient Mesopotamia—perfect for fans of Cleopatra's Moon or the adult bestseller The Red Tent.

In the unforgiving Mesopotamian desert where Jayden's tribe lives, betrothal celebrations abound, and tonight it is Jayden's turn to be honored. But while this union with Horeb, the son of her tribe's leader, will bring a life of riches and restore her family's position within the tribe, it will come at the price of Jayden's heart.

Then a shadowy boy from the Southern Lands appears. Handsome and mysterious, Kadesh fills Jayden's heart with a passion she never knew possible. But with Horeb's increasingly violent threats haunting Jayden's every move, she knows she must find a way to escape—or die trying.

With a forbidden romance blossoming in her heart and her family's survival on the line, Jayden must finish the deadly journey to save the ones she loves—and find true love for herself.

I’m a romantic at heart and swoon at stories like Gone with the Wind, Somewhere in Time, Jane Eyre, and Pride & Prejudice. Some days I wish I could live inside those books—I’m a nerd like that. So I can’t help talking about Kadesh in FORBIDDEN; the mysterious and handsome young man from the secret frankincense lands who seemingly appears out of thin air, wounded from a caravan raid. And strangers on the desert in 1759 BCE are never a good sign. :-)

I was inspired to write my Mesopotamian/tribal/warfare/thriller/romance (see how I got all those categories in there?) by my intrigue for belly dance. I love the beautiful, womanly, and sensuous tribal dances. I took classes, learned how to shimmy, and read everything I could get my hands on, and started day-dreaming about a girl who dances for betrothals, childbirth, and weddings with the women of her tribe. I juxtaposed the tribal dance with the dance as it was used for the Temple of Ashtoreth in their sexual fertility rites (temple prostitution). Instant conflict.

Jayden is betrothed to Horeb, the prince of her tribe, a boy she grew up with, but who has changed since his older brother’s death during a raid. He’s become greedy for the throne, and ruthless. He wants to possess Jayden and control her—and back then men, especially males in power, did just that. Jayden has no say in her life and doesn’t have many options, even though she wants to please her family.

About book boyfriend, Kadesh: This is the time period of the Frankincense Trail and I learned that frankincense only grows in one place, a small spot on the coast of the Arabian Sea surrounded by thousands of miles of Empty Sands. It was deadly to get to because there were few wells for water, no firewood, and no cities to buy supplies. (The Roman Empire lost whole armies out there).

The lands of Sariba were secret and the camel caravans that brought the spice to Babylon, Damascus, and Egypt had to travel more than 2,000 miles. This made frankincense extremely rare and worth more than gold. Raiders would kill to know where it was located so they could invade and conquer the riches for themselves. (btw: frankincense was used as incense for the temples, but also for medicine, perfumes, and embalming.)

One day a wounded stranger from a frankincense caravan raid stumbles into Jayden’s camp. Kadesh is the nephew of the king of Sariba (and heir due to his parents untimely deaths). He’s different from any other boy Jayden has ever known. Certainly different than her betrothed, and he makes the perfect love interest for Jayden.

Kadesh is a young man who has been raised to be kind and generous to their women. A loyal young man who is trying to get back to his own family, and yet will sacrifice his time and wealth for Jayden’s family and their survival when they become separated from their tribe. When Kadesh accidentally stumbles across Jayden as she dances at her mother’s grave to show her love and sorrow, he falls in love with Jayden’s spirit, her humility and beauty, as well as her devotion to her family.

As Jayden witnesses Kadesh’s selflessness and his many kindnesses and loyalty to her father, she slowly becomes attracted to him, but she also knows their love is dangerous, as well as forbidden. Horeb will stop at nothing to destroy Kadesh and make sure his position on the throne is secure through his marriage to Jayden.

Kadesh and Jayden’s love must be kept a secret at all costs or it could lead to their deaths. And, yes, a lot of really bad and dangerous things happen! Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of Forbidden!

Thank you so much for having me! Happy Reading, everyone!

About the author:

When I was a kid I read a book a day, scribbled stories, and dreamed about having my very own book on the library shelf. I grew up in San Francisco, but now live in an adobe house on the banks of the Rio Grande with my husband and sons. I think I've drunk so much Land of Enchantment water that some of that ancient magic got into my blood and now spurts out my pencil—I mean ergonomic keyboard. Which means I adore anything old and musty with a secret story to tell.

I eat way too many cookies when I'm writing - and I've got the best book trailers in the universe - for reals! Check them out here.

Awards: Southwest Book Award, Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel, Bank Street College Best Books of 2011 & 2013, Crystal Kite Finalist, and New Mexico Book Award Finalist.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Morning News Tournament of Books
11th Rooster Award
for best fictiondetails
download your bracket (here) and follow along each day (here) and results (here)

The 2015 Rooster crows on March 9, which means it’s time to download this year’s brackets to make your picks for which books will live, which ones will die, and which ones will live, then die, then get zombified in the 2015 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes..

This competition started yesterday and it is one that I thought I would follow along with this year. The idea of the bracket format is based on the NCAA tournament-style bracket.

The fun twist to this tournament is the Zombie Round.

The tournament will continue until two works remain, at which time a pair of novels that have been previously eliminated will rise from the dead in our Zombie Round, where they will attempt to defeat our presumptive finalists. (At the end of this post you’ll find your chance to vote for which titles should rise from the grave.) The winners of those contests will advance to the final match, where a verdict will be delivered by a vote from all of the judges listed below. (see complete rules)

The Shortlist for The Morning News 2015 Tournament of Books:

Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball
A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall by Will Chancellor
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr *
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyer
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Redeployment by Phil Klay +
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel * ---> winner
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell +
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng +
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill +
Adam by Ariel Schrag
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters +
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer +
All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

Of the books listed on the shortlist above, I have only read two (ones with asterisks). And a few of these are already in my tbr pile (ones with pluses). Depending on how the discussions go, I plan to add the appealing ones to my current tbr pile.

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town's most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept "separate but equal."

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.

My two-bits:
This was a painful read as it dealt with the ugly side of a lot of ism's - racism, classism, sexism as well as sexual orientation. However, it was good to see how the characters handled their situations despite all the hardships and torment.

This also was a good book for introducing the topics and realities of things that happenend in the past for a middle grade and YA crowd who are not already aware.

The main topic was racism and the start of the integration process in school. Reading this made me appreciate how far we have come in promoting and embracing diversity in schools.

The LGBT part was handled well and with a subtle touch of two girls starting to accept and go forward with their new and different kind of relationship.

~*~

* let me know in comments if you think this is a book you might want to read

A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of his Broadway play.

Neat-o trivia bits from imdb:

* The words seen in the opening credits are the words written on Raymond Carver's tombstone in real life: "And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth."

* This film is edited to look like one continuous shot.

*The concept of shooting a feature-length film in one, continuous take was actually accomplished twelve years before Birdman's release in the film Russian Ark (2002), which was shot in a single 96-minute Steadicam sequence.

PeekAbook:

My two-bits:

Loved how this story went into soul searching and passion for art told in a magical realism style.

~*~

Based on this story...

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
by Raymond Carver
-short storyAmazon | Goodreads

In his second collection of stories, as in his first, Carver's characters are peripheral people--people without education, insight or prospects, people too unimaginative to even give up. Carver celebrates these men and women.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

The Vintage Tea Party
A Complete Guide to Hosting your Perfect Party
by Angel Adoree
-Cookbook, TeaAmazon | Goodreads

Angel set up the Vintage Patisserie in 2007, turning tea party dreams into reality and offering customers the complete experience, including dance, music and make up and of course a delectable menu. Her new book "The Vintage Tea Party Book" embraces the style and class of the Vintage Patisserie and illustrates how to beautifully recreate the tasty treats and classic styles of a magical golden era in your very own home with elegance and glamour and make your party go with a swing!

It tells you the importance of 'occasion' and how you should make your guests feel really special. Nothing is left out, starting at the very beginning with the personalized invitation and beautiful ready made invitations to send to your friends. You can decorate your home to make it look the perfect venue for your tea party. You can collect vintage china and silver cutlery to decorate your table, and there is a tea party checklist to make sure you have all the essentials!

And for that really personal touch, Angel shows how to make your own decorations, including Queen Elizabeth Union Jack flags and beautiful bird mobiles. This is not a 'cupcake' book, the menu consists of stylish, simple classics with a visual twist.

Angel puts together a delicious and bespoke selection of dishes to spoil and delight your guests - whatever time of the day. With brunch dishes such as Coddled Eggs and Asparagus Egg Custards with Parmesan Wafers, to afternoon teas of Onion and Potato Flowers, Bunting Butties, Cream Cheese and Cucumber Hearts, and Lollipop and Jam Sandwiches followed by scrumptious deserts including personalised Engraved Earl Grey Truffle Hearts, Rose Pannacotta and Lemon Scones with Lavender Cream - all washed down with Green Jasmine Tea Bubbles, Saffron G&Tea Shots or a Tea Tini Flower Martini and many other delightful drinks - your guests will be spoilt for choice!

Now you have the menu sorted out, it's time to decorate yourself and revel in the decadence of vintage glamour. Make your own hat and hair decorations with fabric and a multitude of decorations which can all be found at your local haberdashery, there are accessible tips on fabulous hairstyles, like how to put your hair in a victory roll, poodle or a basic set. There are makeup methods to make yourself look like a vintage beauty - like how to achieve the perfect rouged lips and put on false eye lashes.

Why not play a parlour game to bring your guests together? - there are a host of games such as 'Guess the Musical Era', unconventional poker, charades and 'Are You There Moriarty?' - all of which will have your guests laughing and the conversation really flowing!

Quite simply, "The Vintage Tea Party Book" has everything you need to host the perfect tea party, you will be the talk of the town and everyone will want to be invited to your special bespoke party - as well as want to host their very own!

A decision that will change her life forever. After the loss of her husband, Gracelynn Calhoun has struggled with her life and career. Forced to take a four week vacation or be fired from her job, she surprises everyone including herself and agrees to the vacation. The owner of Antonetti Suites, Giovanni works hard and doesn’t have time for relationships or love. That is until he literally crashes into Gracelynn. She brings back all the feelings he thought he would never feel again. With the odds stacked against them in every way possible, will they forge ahead together or will this be the end of the road for their newfound love? Will the whispers from above bring them together or will misunderstandings ruin what could be an amazing second chance at love?

My two-bits:

This was a clean contemporary romance. Although there were some unsavory parts for the most part the romance was sweet.

It took awhile for the couple to finally unite because of their previous relationships which ended in sad losses for both. However, the chemistry between the two was established pretty early in the story. So, not a lot of resistance on either side.

Interesting reveal and magical-like intervention in this story which lends to a good cozy read during the holiday season.